Analysis of types of fraud by county shows marked differences across the UK.
Based on reports to Action Fraud over the past two years, London is the capital of online shopping and auction fraud, with 17 reports per 10,000 people, compared with a national average of 13.
It also has the highest reported rate for ticket fraud and investment scams.
Norfolk, had the highest reported rate for computer fixing fraud. 15.8 reports were recorded per 10,000 people in the past two years, well above the national average of 5.9.
Residents of Sussex made the most reports of dating scams.
The most common fraud types are shown in the table below with the county recording the highest number of incidents.
Fraud type | Police force | Number of reports per 10,000 people | National average reports per 10,000 people |
Retail/consumer fraud | Essex | 12.7 | 11.3 |
Cheque, plastic card and online bank fraud | Essex | 12.2 | 5.4 |
Hacking: social media and email | Hertfordshire | 3.5 | 2.5 |
Online shopping and auctions | London (Metropolitan) | 17 | 13 |
Ticket fraud | London (Metropolitan) | 4.5 | 2.2 |
Investment fraud | London (Metropolitan) | 1.9 | 1.3 |
Computer fixing fraud | Norfolk | 10.3 | 5.9 |
Fake loan fraud | Northamptonshire | 1.8 | 1.2 |
Mandate fraud | Surrey | 3.3 | 2 |
Computer virus attacks | Surrey | 2.5 | 1.9 |
Bogus tradespeople | Surrey | 3.2 | 1.8 |
Dating scams | Sussex | 1.9 | 1.1 |
Advance fee fraud | Warwickshire | 15.8 | 11.9 |
Source: Which? analysis of Action Fraud data between 2017-18 and 2018-19
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